Great Fun @ the Maynooth Celtic Festival

We had a wonderful time playing the Maynooth Celtic Festival this past weekend! Gorgeous country, great hospitality, wonderful folks.

Our Maynooth Home - The Arlington Hostel

The  Friday afternoon drive up was plagued with traffic snarls (argh!) until we got outside TO.  After that, though…a nice, scenic ride. Had dinner at a nice little pub in Bancroft and got to town around 8 pm.  I spent much of the evening just sitting out back of the hostel, listening to the night sounds and looking up at the stars.

I got to do some sight-seeing the next day.  All I can say is that this country is absolutely beautiful. It reminds me of Upstate NY or Western PA. Very few people around, wonderfully quiet with the sounds of birds, insects and the breeze for company. Sigur Ros was the soundtrack as I drove around the edge of Algonquin Provincial Park.

 

It feels very “open” : a lot of space to think & feel. I love it. In another life, I could easily see myself living here. I think it might be a somewhat lonely or bittersweet way, but very alive in many ways.

 

The Saturday evening concert went really well, followed by a short ceili and then a session back at the hostel till early morning. Met some fine players up there, including Kevin (flute & whistle) & his daughter Deirdre (bodhran) from Ottawa and a lovely banjo player whose name I didn’t get. 

Kevin, Andy post-concert @ the Arlington

 

Dierdre

Interestingly, Kevin knew many of my old friends from the Philadelpia and it was great fun catching up and sharing news. The banjo player – who was in his 70’s and didn’t look a day past 60 – was a logger and builder. He was known in the area as “the forest gardener” due to his deep knowledge of trees. There was such a good vibe coming from him and his music; he seemed generally “happy” in a way that I’d love to be when I reach his age.

Dan & Anne

After the session, Andy & I took a short 1:30 am hike to find a waterfall he’d come across earlier in the day on a bike ride. With the moon as bright as it was and all the stars, we didn’t need any other light and just hung out for a while listening to the water. The spray from the waterfall created a beautiful nimbus around the moonlight as it was broken but the tree tops.

As we drove home Sunday morning, we stopped off at Eagle’s Nest Park in Bancroft to check out the view, and weren’t disappointed at the detour.

Eagle's Nest Park Overlook - Bancroft, ON

 I”ll definitely need to go back there.

Hawp Begins Recording This Week

 Hawp begins recording tracks for the new CD this week, which is tentatively scheduled for release in the Fall. No firm title yet, but probably something to do with storms.

The material is mostly original and there will be a nice balance of tune sets and song tracks. The arrangements are shaping up to be nice and full with a wide range of moods. Upbeat reels, bouncy jigs, exotic, odd-time signature tunes, songs about lost fisher folk, hauntings, love… its all going to be there.

We’ll be working in a beautiful old farm house while we record the bulk of the instrumental tracks, thanks to the generosity of two wonderful friends, Paul and Teresa.

So its off to sequester for the next few days. More to come when there’s time to breathe!

Dulcimerhead & Spiritfest – Newmarket, ON

A few months ago I met this really cool artist & mountain dulcimer player, David Rankine, at the Owen Sound Celtic Festival. We were sitting next to each other in a “Tunesmithing” workshop where, you guessed it, we shared our tunes and talked about how we write them. We both liked each others stuff and chatted a bit. A few months went by, we chatted some more. Repeat. Then back in February David told me his group, Dulcimerhead, was going to be putting out a new CD and would I be interested in sitting in on the release concert. “Sure,” I said.

Said CD release happened yesterday in Newmarket, ON. And it was a blast.

David and his crew organized a day-long event celebrating all aspects of creativity, which they called Spiritfest, and set their concert at the capstone. Crafters,  environmental presenters, viking historical re-creationists, the York Food Bank…all kinds of folks were there. I even sat in on my first drum circle. It was a wonderful day, and had a very strong sense of community about it.

Spoken-word artist/chant-poet/drummer Daniela Godina opened the concert, hitting everyone with her dark, captivating voice.  She has some real power, and I can see why David has referred to Daniela as ”a female Jim Morrison.”  The energy coming off of Daniela was palpable.

 

Dulcimerhead’s material was great- an interesting mix of sounds, often sounding like an Appalachian thrash-band from Morocco. (Power chords on a lap dulcimer – who’d of thought that one? ) There was all kinds of room to stretch out musically, using very simple structures and a brilliant sense of improvisational communication.

 

Getting to play with these folks was a real treat. It’s been a while since I’ve been in such a strongly improvisational setting where anything goes. You just listen hard, watch each other and create from nothing but a groove,  a harmonic progression and your gut.

We’d planned to do only a couple of numbers together, but towards the end of the second set, David turned to Daniela and I and said, “Hey, wanna do something in D?” That was it. So we all got up on stage together and we were off.  No idea what was going to happen or how, but it all came together to the point where we were giddy afterwards. And based on the remarks from the folks who came out to hear the show, they liked it, too. 

David calls this kind of thing “open source creativity,” a basic structure where everything just flows and there’s space for everyone involved to contribute and grow - audience and performers, equally and alike. There’s a heavy community-building focus to it, though perhaps in a more intuitive way rather than as an explicitly planned goal. All of us who spent time at Spiritfest and the concert seemed to connect in one way or another, falling into helping roles, enjoying the gifts we had to offer, either as artists, cooks, merchants, performers. It was about the people being there, not about selling stuff.

It was about music functioning in a way other than simple entertainment, which I think is what its all about.

Yesterday was a great day. It was as simple as that.

Not by tunes alone…

Nothing exists in a vacuum…

As a college freshman entering the jazz program at Manhattan School of Music, I had a philosophy professor who asked us newbies an interesting question. In a rough paraphrase, he said, “Do you think there is any point in a bunch of aspiring musicians being required to take non-music (i.e. liberal art) courses?” We all thought about and discussed this for a while. Eventually he said, “If you want your music to speak to or about human experience, then you need to know what it is that you’re talking about. One way to do that…aside from living consciously…is to study and read widely.” This idea has always stuck with me.

So to share, here’s a short list of books from my own shelves and which I’d recommend to anyone who has the interest to explore them.

(*** = highly recommended.)

 

BIOGRAPHY

Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest (Eric Nisenson. Da Capo Press, 1995)
A “musical biography” of one of jazz music’s greatest saxophonists. Nisenson’s writing centers around Trane’s musical development and his lasting influence. A must read.

Chasin’ the Trane: The Music and Mystique of John Coltrane (J.C. Thomas. Da Capo Press, 1988)
Good introduction to Trane’s life.

***Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation (Eric Nisenson. Da Capo Press, 2000)
Sonny Rollins is considered by many to be the “world’s greatest living improviser,” and this book is a wonderful exploration of his musical philosophy. Plenty of implications for the place of improvisation and variation in traditional music.

 

CREATIVITY

***Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (David Bayles and Ted Orland. Consortium Book Sales & Dist., 2001)
The authors present a very insightful look at the process of “artmaking” – painting, music, writing and other forms are all addressed – from the point of view of “the working artist.”

The Courage to Create (Rollo May. W.W. Norton & Co., 1994)
One of the first formal “studies” on creativity from a psychological perspective. A bit of a Freudian slant, but a good read regardless.

Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist (Robert Wuthnow. Univ. of CA Press, 2001)
An anthology of case studies of numerous musicians, artists, writers & performers, exploring the connection between creative endeavors and the spiritual life

***Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art (Stephen Nachmanovich. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1990.)

Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice in Music (Derek Bailey. Da Capo Press, 1993)

 

FICTION

***Dreams Underfoot (Charles De Lint. TOR, 1993) The first of De Lint’s “Newford” short story collections. Other volumes include, The Ivory and the Horn, Moonlight and Vines and Tapping the Dream Tree.

***The Merro Tree (Katie Waitman. Del Rey, 1997) An excellent study of art and censorship in a sci-fi setting.

***Someplace To Be Flying (Charles De Lint. TOR, 1998) My favorite De Lint novel

 

IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Bringing It All Back Home (Nuala O’Connor. Merlin Publishing, 2001)
Written originally as a television series in the UK, this is an interesting study of the history and influence of traditional music, both in Ireland and abroad. Packed with great information and reads a bit like a survey course textbook

Folk Music and Dances of Ireland (Brendan Breathnach. Ossian Publications, 1971)
A standard work.

A Pocket History of Irish Music (Gearoid O hAllmhurain. Obrien Press, Ltd., 2003)
A small little tome, just packed w/ information! A great beginning resource.

 

PHILOSOPHY / PSYCHOLOGY / SPIRITUALITY

Finite and Infinite Games (James P. Carse. Ballantine Books, 1994)

The Resilient Spirit: Transforming Suffering Into Insight and Renewal (Polly Young-Eisendrath. Perseus Publishing, 1997)
An excellent discussion of “resiliency,” that set of traits that allows one to endure hardship and suffering and not be destroyed by it.

 

MUSIC – GENERAL

Mental Practice and Imagery for Musicians (Malva Freymuth, D.M.A. Integrated Pr., 1999)
Freymuth presents some interesting ideas to enhance performance and optimize practice time.

Music, The Brain and Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination (Robert Jourdain. Avon, 1998)
A very thorough account of the experience of music from the neurological, biological and psychological perspectives. A bit of a “heavy” read, but fascinating when you get into it.

***The Touring Musician (Hal Galper. Watson-Guptill Publications, 2000)
A look at the business end of things written by a musician, for musicians. Great practical, step-by-step guidance on every aspect of “serious” performing.

Beggar’s Road in Meaford

A week or so ago we went on one of our “Random Roads” jaunts up towards Owen Sound with the express intent of ending up in Meaford to catch muso friend Tara MacKenzie playing a show with Beggar’s Road. Its was a gorgeous day, the country was beautiful, few enough people on the road and new tunes on the CD player.

We arrived in Meaford a little early and so got to hang out in town a bit, checking out the area. Meaford is a neat little town, touching right on Lake Huron. Great view of the lake, friendly …ok, hungry… seagulls, gorgeous escarpment country. The show was being put on at McGinty’s Cafe, a neat combination cafe/antique shop/peformance space.  (These funky multi-use spaces in small towns in Ontario are just way too cool!) The folks at the Cafe were very hospitable and the room was really nice: good acoustics, roomy, full service bar, etc. Definitely a place to check out for a gig (hint).

Beggar’s Road put on a great show.  All of the folks in this band have great chops and play really well. They have a nice electro-acoustic take on their material and present a sound that  mixes elements of country, celtic, folk and rock .

Their vocalists are quite impressive. Justine Maw-Farrar is incredible. Her voice is silky-smooth, with just the right touch of country-gospel-folk, and has tremendous power.  Tara MacKenzie is another amazing vocalist with serious chops.  Despite performing while ill,  she was spot on,  and her original songs added a wonderful Irish touch to the night.  Dave Farrar rounds out the vocal duties with a powerful delivery. These powerhouses handle the front line quite ably, and their harmonies added colour and excitement to the night.

The band’s writing and arrangements were wonderfully inventive and full of unexpected harmonies, playful grooves and highlight their tight ensemble playing. This was particularly apparent in their  treatment of “The Blacksmith,” a  common traditional song.  Other highlights included “Ceilidh in the Glen” and “West Island Rail.”

We were so happy to have been able to catch their show and look forward to doing so again. Fair play to you, Beggar’s Road!

Paintings of Ennis

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in Joe Kennedy’s pipe workshop hanging out &  listening to some friends go on about all things ulliean-related. Quite esoteric for a non-piper, but very cool. While there Joe brought out a massive volume of transcriptions of Seamus Ennis’ playing. The book was huge and to call it “exhaustive” would be an understatement. Thinking about the amount of time and effort that went into it is staggering!

Now I  remember reading somewhere that aspiring painters will take a work by a master artist whose style they want to mimic and try to reproduce it as closely as possible. Through imitation, trial & error the aspiring artist gets hands-on insight into the master’s technique,  discovers what and how it was done, and therefore learns how s/he can do it for themselves. 

The parallel here is obvious, if not exact.

Just as a painting might recreate a scene as it happened at a given instant, each performance of Ennis’ was recreated in exquisite detail, each one a painting of a particular musical event that occurred at a specific point in time. Studying the piece, understanding how ornaments were approached and used in conjunction with the melody, and so forth would be analogous to understanding how a painter might use light, or a particular technique of layering color on a canvas or an interesting brush stroke. By studying multiple works by the same artist, one could see how similar issues were approached in each work and so gain an insight into that person’s particular “style.” Doing this in an ongoing basis helps to develop s own style.

This “apprentice/master” format is at the heart of traditional learning. Its a longer road in some ways, but the rewards are more than worth the investment.  It is especially useful when one cannot find a master player locally to learn from, and that is where book like this one, and more importantly recordings, can be a great help.

The knowledge is in the details.

Exhibition Opening: “Solas agus Scath”

Last night a bunch of us muso-folk played for the opening of  Eva McCauley’s exhibition, Solas agus Scath (”Light and Shadow”) at the Elora Centre for the Arts (Elora, ON). It was a grand time, full of tunes and a gallery packed with guests checking out Eva’s stunning work, which was based on her experience at the Cill Rialaig aritsts’ residency, Co. Kerry, in 2008.

 

Dan Restivo, Fiona Coll and Dan MacDonald came all the way from Toronto to play in, along with us local folk (Andy, me, Eva, Jake, Phil)  and even Norm Stiff put in an appearance on pipes! Magic were the airs that piper did play!

I think Charles De Lint said it best in Medicine Road:

“…the thing we liked best was when we got to play with other musicians and that inexplicable frisson comes whispering up your spine because the music is just right….the best music happens on porches and kitchens, or after-hours in clubs and off the stage …. You’re no longer performing. Instead you fall into the music and some kind of magic happens….”

A great March, some cool April stuff and a new CD in the works

March has been a busy month as it always is for those of us who play traditional/celtic/folk music (gotta love the Green Shamrocks!) There have been a number of great gigs, including a couple of very intimate house concerts, a ceili, as well as Hawp’s stellar Toronto debut at the Flying Cloud Folk Club. And there’s still one more to come!

On the evening of March 26th I’ll be playing along with Andy Webster, Dan MacDonald and some other guest musicians at the opening of fine artist & musician Eva McCauley’s latest show, “Solas agus Scath,” at the Elora Centre for the Arts (Elora, ON) . Sure to be some great tunes!

 To top it all off, it looks like there’s a full-length Hawp recording in the works! As of now, the album will feature mostly new, original material and will include a number of my own tunes. (Keep an eye on the Triskell Studio tunebook pages for copies of the tunes!) The band is talking about laying down tracks starting in April and targeting a Fall 2009 release.

In addition to April’s recording work, I’ve been invited to play with David Rankine’s progressive /improvisational folk ensemble Dulcimerhead on Saturday April 11th in Newmarket, ON.  The group will celebrate the launch of their new CD Dark Mandala  with an evening concert at Spirit Fest.  David’s work is tres cool and I’m really looking forward to the chance to perform with him! Gig specifics can be found on the Triskell Studio calendar.

That’s all for now!

Great gig @ Cafe 13 (Cambridge, ON)

So Andy and I had a great time playing at Cafe 13 in Cambridge last night! It was a fantastic room and a wonderful setting to perform (or hear music) in -can’t recommend it highly enough. The show was presented very well, and we felt very comfortable being there.

We debuted some brand new material tonight and based on the feedback, it went over very well. One song in particular that we really like – “The Fisherman Boy” – was especially well-received, so we get to keep it in the set and are thrilled about it.

I’ve got to say, there’s something really special about playing in smaller, intimate venues like this. There’s more of a connection going on and it creates a very nice, warm energy. Having some friends in the room was great, too: it makes you want to play even better.

So thanks to everyone who came out and allowed us to share some music with you!

Owen Sound Celtic Festival, Philadelphia, Travel

Today I’m in Eatontown, NJ staying with some old and dear friends, as I hit the half-way mark on my 2-week sojurn back to the U.S.  visiting family and friends. The past few weeks have been pretty busy with rehearsing, traveling, writing, teaching and so forth, so there’s a bit to catch up on.

HAWP’s performance(s) at the Owen Sound Celtic Festival went over very well and we all had a blast. Though I think we were all quite beat at the end of the night. I know I slept in most of Sunday in recovery! All of the performers were excellent and we got to hear a few old friends and make some new ones. Sahra Featherstone &  Jason Fowler were simply brilliant, using a period garage as an impromptu stage during the rain; Anam Cairde, Ian Harper’s newest affiliation, had an outstanding evening concert; according to reports Rant Maggie Rant were in fine form as well.  Tara Mackenzie, one of the organizers of this great event and part of Anam Cairde, is one heck of a great vocalist and a hoot! She is definitely one to check out.  In short, the level of talent amongst the performers was simply a joy to experience. 

Being part of the impromptu workshops – a pub-session kind of jam thing, and one on “tunesmithing” were a highlight of the festival for me, and presented an opportunity to play with all of these wonderful folks. The tune writing workshop in particular was inspiring. The gracious Anne Ledermanstepped up to the plate as moderator and got us all discussing our particular approaches to writing and sharing our “processs” and work. There’s some pretty great writing going on out there!

A couple of days after the festival, Andy and I got right back to it, working on some new material/arrangements for the group.  This guy never quits – its great!!!

Saturday I was able to get back to Philadelphia (my musical “home”) for a bit. My dear friends Cait, Heidi and the “budding bodhranista” Catherine headed into the city for some food and then over to Fergie’s Pub for a great afternoon of tunes with Brendan Callahan & Darin Kelly.  Man, I love playing with these guys! The tunes flow, the interplay is there and the creativity – wow! A little later on Sean McComiskey, Cleek Shrey and another fiddler named James stopped in for a bit, and it just got better! Topping it all off, a wedding party complete with Bride & Groom, stopped in the pub for a few post-ceremony drinks and had a great time with Guiness & the tunes. Gotta love it.

Back in Ontario this weekend, so more to come, including website updates, new myspace pages and sound samples!